By nature

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, 

through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

~George Washington Carver

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~Albert Einstein

Going with the flow, no questions asked

"It troubles me that we are so easily pressured by purveyors of technology into permitting so-called 'progress' to alter our lives without attempting to control it—as if technology were an irrepressible force of nature to which we must meekly submit." 


- Hyman G. Rickover (1900-1986), United States Naval Admiral / "Father of the Nuclear Navy" 

3 guide posts

“Arrogance invites ruin; humility receives benefits.”

- Chinese proverb

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th U.S. President

“Live so that when your children think of fairness 

and integrity, they think of you.”

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr., writer

Faking reality

I wonder if any scam artists read my blog. Well, if you happen to be one but refuse to admit it even to yourself, go get help. And think about this:


"People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked…The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on."


- Ayn Rand (1905-1982), novelist, screenwriter

Extending a hand

"When a person is down in the world, 

an ounce of help is better than a pound of preaching."

-- Edward G. Bullwer-Lytton (1803-1873), novelist & playwright

A reminder amid conflict

For control freaks, this would be a helpful reminder. Better yet, print it out and post where it can be seen everyday :-)

Petal attraction

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.  

~ Claude Monet

  

The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.  

~Robert Leighton

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
~ Henri Matisse

A beautiful flower begins its life in the dirt.
~ Author Unknown

     In the hope of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.
                                                           ~Albert Schweitzer   

He who wants a rose must respect the thorn.
~ Persian proverb 

Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without perfume.
~ French proverb

A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers. 

~ Chinese proverb 

Where flowers bloom, so does hope. 

~ Ladybird Johnson

  

Freedom

"God’s law does not reduce, much less does away with human freedom; rather, it protects and promotes that freedom."

- John Paul II, in Veritatis Splendor

Moving on

“When one door closes another door opens,
but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door,
that we do not see the ones which open for us.”


- Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Inventor

It takes two

The spectator

To sin by silence when they should protest
makes cowards of men.

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th US President

"Who disturbs my slumber?"

He who has faith...

“He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well -- even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.”

B. C. Forbes (1880-1954), finance journalist/founder, Forbes Magazine

To give and to keep

"Among the things you can give and still keep are
your word, a smile and a grateful heart."

- Zig Ziglar, motivational author & speaker

From within

People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light
from within.

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author

Bravery

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting;
it has been found difficult
and left untried."

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

Power

"He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights activist

Commercial appeal

Okay, a quick post, but one which I hope gives you much inspiration by way of ideas, relief, comfort, reassurance, a laugh or whatever it is that's needed most at the moment.

Here are a couple of advertisements that are among my favorites. Good humor does work wonders and keeps the creative juices flowing :-)

(And below is a bunch of quotes about humor and laughter which I simply compiled)











Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him. ~Roman Gary

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs - jolted by every pebble in the road. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious. ~Peter Ustinov

Humor has a way of bringing people together. It unites people. In fact, I'm rather serious when I suggest that someone should plant a few whoopee cushions in the United Nations. ~Ron Dentinger

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor. ~Author Unknown

* * * * *

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. ~Yiddish Proverb

When people are laughing, they're generally not killing each other. ~Alan Alda

Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food. ~Anna Fellows Johnston

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

Integrity

"To be persuasive we must be believable;
to be believable we must be credible;
to be credible we must be truthful."

-- Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), American journalist

Chock full of sweet delectables

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"
- Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts

You can regard chocolate from quite a number of viewpoints -- from the perspective of dentists, parents, children, dieticians, bakers, in the context of calories, caffeine, diabetes, romantic overtures, get-well-soon wishes, cacao plantations, Belgium and Switzerland's exports... and a host of others, depending on your train of thought.

One thing is certain: chocolate can inspire the cutest ideas.





I'm not sure how I'd feel biting into something like this, though:






And I'm glad to know that chocolates were considered a great gift idea for men (at least in advertising) at some time:





Obviously those brown delectables even inspired humor in highly esteemed writers:

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."
-- Charles Dickens